The Arizona sentinel., 1887-01-08
STATESMEN'S BUsTs.
The Works of Art Which Are to Ador
 the Gnllery of the Senate.

The Works of Art Which Are to Adorn
 the GnIlery of the Senate.
 The Senate Library Committee re- ported a resolution authorizing the pay ment from the contingent fund of 6 sum sufficient For the purchase of the busts of the Presidents from John Adams down to the present time. The resolu- tion, which was adopted without debate, provided that no more than five busts should be received within one fiscal year, and that each should be modelled by an artist residing in the same State with the subject. The matter was then placed in the charge of MT. Edward Clark, the architect of the capitol. II was finally decided that the first five should be the busts of the three Vice Presidents then living-viz., Hannibal Hamilton, William A. Wheeler and Chester A. Arthur-and then revert to Adams and Jefferson, coming down the line to MT. Hendricks. The list in cludes only the legally-elected Vice Presidents, and not those who may have filled the office ad interim.
 It is the intention to place the five busts of those aforementioned in the niches of the north wall of the Senate chamber, where the Vice-Presidents generally sit, but when all shall have been finished they will be arranged chronologiccally in their respective niches in the galleries of the Senate. The busts will be placed on pedestals of a height sufficient to prevent being handled by that class of curiously-dis- posed persons who can not be satisfied with any thing less than personal con- tact with whatever happens to be placed on exhibition. The pedestal will be chiseled from marble of color approx imating the general tone of the wall that of Sienna marble. The busts will stand three feet in height. They will be so arranged that the center of the face will be the point from which the semi-circular head of the niche might be deserted. They will be executed from the best portraits obtainable.
 The effort will be to secure portraits contemporaneous with the services of the subject as Vice-President. Some difficulty may be experienced, it is feared, in procuring good representa- tions of some of the dead statesmen such, for example, as those of Aaron Burr and Daniel Tompkins, of New York. The only good portrait of Burr is believed to be that in possession of Princeton College, of which Johnathan Edwards, Mir. Burr's grandfather, was at one time president.
 Ex-President Arthur, upon being con- suited in regard to the matter, request ed that MT. St. Gaudens, of New York City, be given the work of fashioning his features into clay.
 MT. Wheeler expressed no preference as to the sculptor, but regretted that on account of his health he could not give a personal sitting. He referred MT. Clark, however, to a portrait of himself at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in this city, which he regards as probably the best presentment of himself in existence. MT. Clark has asked J. Q, A. Ward, of New York, to perform this work, but it is not known at present whether he will accept.
 To Mr. Franklin Simmons, of Maine, -nxil be assigned the preparation ot MT; Haml1n's bust, while MT. Daniel French, of Massachusetts, ana MT. Ezekiel, of Virginia, win perform q similar service for eX-Presidents Adam: and ,Jefferso1. The sum which the artists wid receive for this service vii " SGa1. only one contract hc'-o d"aru'
 A hfe>sfze portrait of President Ar. thur was made by Leclere, of New York, from many sittings, representing him as gentleman who had just stepped out of the main door of man. sion on to the porch to ~sd1ute the face of nature on an sEcumnal morn. In one hand he wNs holding book, with one finger between the leaves. A rose, as trough fallen from his button-hole, lay upon the step. The artist died be- fore the picture could be criticised by MT. Arthur, and through the aid of an eminent New York and Washington artist the changes desired by him were undertaken. They did not relate in any degree to the face, but merely to the size and repose of the body. As changed under MT. Arthur's direction this admirable work of art now adorns the White House, and is esteemed as a striking portrait. Washington Cor. ~. Y Her01d